Cassette considerations

OldWest

2004 T1N Westfalia
Thanks for writeup and photos. Nicely done.

1. Gray Tube

Grozier:

"Behind the black tank I found a bit of narrow drain hose not connected to anything. I gave it a tug and it came off in my hand. Any idea what it or the riveted drain tube it attaches to is? The A/C condensate drain is outboard of the toilet wall, so that’s not it. Maybe something from the A/C retrofit done on our van, #121?"

I think it's for the James Cook graywater tank which is different than ours. The tubing looks consistent with the sizes for venting and drains for the James Cook.

Westfalia may have found it easier to just put the various stuff in and not use versus customizing between James Cook and NAFTA versions.

2. Fresh Water Hookup Inlet

Did you have.access to fiddle around with fresh water hookup intake?

3. Capping Fresh Water Hose to Toilet, Other Lines

May have missed it, but how did you cap off fresh water hose to toilet and the microswitch water pump wires? Back to source or ??? Useful for anything?


Thanks.
 

grozier

Active member
1. Very plausible answer.

2. Yes, the access is a little better without the black tank. Getting to the tee upstream (or downstream on city water) is still not easy.

3. I used a PEX plug (I know it's not the same) on a shortened fresh water hose. The microswitch line is just tucked up out of the way.
 

grozier

Active member
Minor update: As noted on the James Cook Freunde board, Sikaflex adheres poorly to the cassette. We have a small gap now on one edge. I will re-seal with the Dow product in the Spring.

Ted
 

grozier

Active member
Also, if anyone is interested in the whole original setup — Bravura and/or original (used!) tank — for their parts cache, please let me know by PM. Both are boxed and ready to ship. I have a FedEx account and can give you an estimate of the cost with your Zip code.

Ted
 

grozier

Active member
The original parts are going to the dump at the end of the week - please let me know if you're interested!

Ted
 

onemanvan

Active member
Maybe the best of both worlds?
IE: the advantages of the OEM NAFTA toilet & plumbing + the advantages of the James Cook cassette toilet.
I don't know but I'm going to give it a try - don't have to modify anything and it's not all that expensive.


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The plan is to store it in the basement: ( dimensions 18.9"L X 10.6"W X 10.2"H )

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As needed transfer grey and/or black waste from Westy to portable tank: ( 18 liter capacity )
The yellow twisty knob is what opens and closes blade valve.

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While testing it out today for the first time I can see that I need a more compact 90 degree connector like this one:




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Then depending on the circumstances carry or roll the tank to nearest facility:



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What's he grinning about?
 
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grozier

Active member
Good idea. We had to get our black tank out anyway due to a bad valve. But make sure you have some way of limiting the ~40-liter black tank to 18 liters. Something like a SeeLevel with audible alarm at 15 liters?!
 

onemanvan

Active member
I don't have much confidence in the SeeLevel gauge. I installed them on Juju's Westy and the results were pretty disappointing. Apparently the accuracy is affected by any deposits clinging to the interior of the tanks - ie: both black & grey.

My black tank gauge still works pretty good - not perfect but acceptable.
Your point is well taken though - trying to fit 20 lbs of sh** in a 10 lb sack.

Replacing the valterra gate valve on the bottom of the black tank is a difficult task - I've done it twice - so I know!

The first time was due to a leak between the gate valve and the tank. The problem turned out to be a design issue. They used a hard plastic spacer and copious amounts of that white paste that they used on many of the other fittings. I replaced it with a silicone rubber gasket I cut from a piece of thick sheet material. Since I already had the gate valve out I opted to replace it while as it.

Picture of the OEM hard black plastic spacer centered in the cutout from the thick silicone rubber sheet I used as a replacement.

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The second time I replaced the gate valve was due to an unrelated issue. I had neglected to address a problem with the caulking around the perimeter of the shower pan. As a result some water got in under the shower pan and some smelly black mold had taken hold. An ounce of prevention could have prevented a pound of cure! Removing and replacing the shower pan basically results in having to R&R everything associated with the black waste plumbing!

I find it curious how many different opinions there are about the tank capacities:)
For example - here are three different Westy brochures with varying specs for the black tank capacity ie: 5.3 gal, 7 gal & 9.6 gal.
I'm not sure but I think 9.6 gal ( 36.3 liter ) is the correct value.

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grozier

Active member
Yes, I am 99% certain that the largest figure is correct. 5.3 gal is 20 liters, which might have been the cassette capacity of the James Cook.

The intermediate value is probably an error but could have been the capacity of some prototype rectangular tank (for U.S. installation?) before the custom Westfalia tank was developed.

Ted
 

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